Because Love
by lionesseshuntbetterinpacks
Summary: Because love, it never dies, it never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang onto it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! I randomly got the urge to write a Camp Rock fanfiction, I have absolutely no idea where I'll be going with this story so lets just take this a chapter at a time. This fanfic will start right after the Final Jam :) Let me know what you think. Also! The summary for this story is a direct quote from one of my favorite books, If I Stay by Gale Forman.**

 **I will also say, that in this chapter there is a rape scene, it isn't long but just wanted to put it out there.**

I make my way down to the lake shore. I couldn't stop smiling after the end of Final Jam, I couldn't believe that I ended up being 'the girl with the voice'. That Shane and I basically sang a duet combining both of our songs to make a perfect one. Even after everything that has happened, from all of the drama with Tess to losing practically every friend I made here so far at Camp Rock to this, going on a midnight canoe ride with Shane, this summer has been the best of my life and I wouldn't change a thing. I can't wait to get home and tell Sierra about this magical summer I had here.

I was sitting on the dock waiting for Shane, looking up at the full moon above the lake. I knew I was a few moments earlier than the meeting time at midnight Shane had given me, but I can't help but fear the worst, that he blew me off. Those thoughts didn't last long because I heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Are you ready?" Shane asked, he already had a paddle and two life jackets for us both.

I nodded my head and walked closer to him and took a life jacket from him. On occasion, our hands would brush against each other and I couldn't help but feel butterflies form in my stomach and my cheeks turn a bright red. There was a canoe already on shore, we both took off our shoes, I helped him push the canoe off shore before I got in, Shane kept pushing the canoe through shallows of the water, getting his jeans wet. Eventually he jumped in the canoe as well, almost tipping it causing me to laugh at his clumsiness.

He paddled us towards further and further out into the lake, there weren't any words spoken between us, however it was a comfortable silence, not an awkward one. He stopped paddling suddenly and he broke the awkward silence.

"Can I ask you something?" Shane asked, I turned my gaze so I was then focused on him. I looked up again so I was making eye contact with him, I starred deep into his brown eyes, they were glistening with the way the full moon was hitting them.

"Yeah of course," I answered.

He took a deep breath before he spoke up once more, "Why did you lie? I don't mean this in a rude way, I'm just curious."

I should have been prepared for this question, however, I wasn't. I had no idea how I was going to tell this world famous pop star that I'm practically a nobody back home, a person who only has one friend and who is bullied on a near day to day basis. I had tears form in my eyes and my voice cracked as I tried to speak. I feel a tear slide down my cheek, I try to quickly wipe it away, but Shane beat me to it. I shiver at his touch, his hands were warm and soft to the touch.

"I have no idea where to even start," I begin to say, trying to laugh a bit.

"Don't worry, we have tons of time," Shane adds softly.

I nod my head, and take a deep breath and start from the beginning, "Back home, I have one friend. Just one, her name is Sierra, and although I only have one friend, I'm thankful that it is her, I've known her since kindergarten but we became friends in third grade. I've been bullied pretty much my whole life, it was bad in middle school but when I got to high school it got worse and no matter what I did to try to make it stop, nothing would work, so I pretty much try to ignore it. I guess when I got here, I just wanted things to be different, I wanted to see what it was like to have multiple friends, to have a choice of who I wanted to sit with during meal. I know it was dumb of me and it ended up getting me in so much more trouble than if I would have just stayed true to myself. I guess that's why I try to be nice and kind to everyone I meet, because of how worthless being bullied made me feel, I would never want to make someone feel that way."

I realized I was crying more when Shane brought me in for a tight hug, the canoe was thrown off balance, but neither Shane or I cared. I was the first one to pull out of the hug, I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes once again. The tears were freely falling from my eyes, I had never told anyone that much about myself. No one ever seemed to care to know that much personal information about myself.

"What did the bullies do to you?" Shane asked, showing full concern in his voice. I wanted to tell Shane more than anything, that the bullying throughout middle school eventually lead me to harmful habits, I remember the first time I had ever cut myself, I was 11. I remember all the times I was called 'fat', a 'pig', it came to a point where I would throw up my food after every meal. I had been diagnosed as bulimic at 14. My freshman year of high school, was when the worst event happened, it worsened my depression. I had been talked into attending a senior party with Sierra and her older sister, Megan, I tried to protest in every form, but somehow I ended up at the party.

 _I had to dig through my closet to find my nicest, yet somewhat revealing clothes I owned. I decided on a t-shirt dress I had worn on the first day of school, it wasn't 'party clothes', but it was closest piece of clothing that I had, I needed to fit in. I still couldn't believe I had let Sierra's older sister talk Sierra and I attend a senior party. It might be every freshman girl's dream to get invited to a senior party as a freshman, but it wasn't mine._

 _Megan's boyfriend had drove the three of us to the party, they both planned on drinking that night and told Sierra she was probably going to end up driving us back to their place even though Sierra only had her learners permit. We both rolled our eyes at this comment, knowing this was probably the reason why Megan and her boyfriend wanted the two of us to come in the first place. As we pulled up to the house, there had to be at least fifty cars lined up and down the street, the party house had nearly every light on in the house, the music could be heard down the block, it seemed to be a matter of hours before the police would be called. As soon as we all walked inside the house, Sierra and I lost her sister and her sister's boyfriend immediately._

 _Sierra seemed to be way more comfortable in this scene than I was. She was easily able to talk to other girls and even some guys while I just awkwardly stood by her side and followed her literally every where. We both were offered multiple times if we wanted any drinks but both of us refused. I quickly checked my wrist watch and a weight came down on my chest when I realized it was only 11 o'clock and there was a solid chance we would be here for at least three or more hours. I told Sierra I was going to go to the bathroom and would catch up with her in a bit and she nodded her head and continued talking to the group she was with._

 _I quickly made my way to the staircase but not before I had beer spilled on me and a couple of drunk guys try to grab my butt. I darted up the stairs and took an immediate right and found a bedroom to stay in for a few hours. I thought I had shut the door behind me however, when I turn around, I see a tall man behind me. He nearly gave me a heart attack._

 _"Oh sorry, is this your bedroom?" I asked, he didn't reply, "I can leave if you want," There was still no reply, something about this situation did not seem right to me. I walked past the man to the door, but he grabbed my wrist instead, I tried to wriggle my wrist from his grip, but I couldn't. "Let me go!" I scream, but he hushed my scream with a kiss. Before I knew it, he had lifted me off the ground and he threw me so I was laying over his shoulder, no matter how hard of a fight I put up, he seemed to handle it perfectly. He took a few steps to the bed before the placed me on it._

 _"Shhh." The man had said, as he placed his hand over my mouth, I knew exactly who this man was! It was Nicholas Dart, the starting quarterback of the football team. He was the talk of the school, as he was only a sophomore, he was being looked at multiple top D1 colleges nation wide. He elevated himself over top of me, I was struggling to get free, I tried screaming, but my screams were practically silenced by his hand, which kept pressing harder the more I screamed. He violently ripped my underwear off before sliding himself into me. He kept thrusting and the pain that was circulating through my body was one I could never describe. I eventually gave up in fighting him, it felt like ages before he let me go._

 _"You never speak of this to anyone," He demanded in a hushed tone, "If you do, you don't want to know what will happen next."_

 _I nodded my head, I was in tears. I had just been raped, but I had no one to tell it too. He exited the room and I watched him leave like nothing happen. I felt dirty. Nicholas Dart had forever robbed me of my_ _innocence._

 _"_ I can't talk about it Shane," I look down, like I had disappointed him, "I'm so sorry, I just can't talk about it."

"Its okay Mitch, if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to." He comforted.

I quickly put on a brave face, trying to forget the scenario that played in my head and asked him questions as well.

"I was grounded when I was 13 for a month once because I was livid at Jason for some dumb reason and I threw a chair at him," Shane started laughing recalling this memory he had in his mind, "Well, I guess I did not have very good aim because I completely missed Jason but I hit a wall instead and put this gigantic hole in it." I too start to laugh at this.

Shane and I keep this small talk going on for at least another hour, he's the first to look at his watch, "Crap Mitchie, its nearly 2 am,"

Neither one of us had realized the time, we had just kept talking about small details about each other. I found out that his favorite color isn't actually green, but its orange.

"Luckily," I giggle, "I share my cabin with Caitlyn now and not my mom. But I'm sure I'll have tons of questions to wake up to in the morning."

"I share my cabin with Uncle Brown, so we'll see if he says anything to me tomorrow morning." We both laugh at this.

Shane tried his hardest to get us to shore as fast as he could, the harder he tried, we would end up going in a circle, I tried not to laugh, but I would watch his eyebrows furrow at this. Another detail I picked up about him.

We eventually made it back to shore, he exits the canoe first in the cool shallow water dragging the canoe onto the sand. I jump out of the canoe as well helping Shane drag it up further onto the shore.

It was a further walk to the cabins from the shore, at least half a mile. At one point, during the walk Shane grabbed my hand. He held on to it strongly, his hands were warm. I felt safe along side Shane, as if no one could ever hurt me.

Shane randomly stops in the middle of the path, Shane pulls me so we're only inches apart, I feel my heart start to race faster and my palms start to sweat. "I know this might be moving too fast. But I really do like you Mitchie, and I know I have a crazy schedule and all, but I was wondering if you would want to be my girlfriend?"

Shane Gray asking me to be his girlfriend? I had to be dreaming, there was no way that this could be happening. My inner fangirl is screaming, but somehow, I stay calm.

"I would love to have the honor," I reply with a laugh, causing Shane to smile. His smile, so beautiful, I would do nearly anything to keep that smile on his face forever. He closes the small gap between us. I was tense at first, realizing this was my first kiss since that horrid night at the senior party.

Shane and I continued walking to the cabins, he walked me to my cabin, even with the protests, he said he couldn't call himself a man if he did not make sure his girlfriend was safely back at her cabin. This made me laugh, so protective already.

I thought and hoped that Caitlyn would have already been asleep, as tomorrow would be a long day of packing to head home the next day. However, she was still up, her lamp next to her bed still on. As soon as I walked in through the cabin door, Caitlyn bombarded me with questions.

"Just make sure you tell me everything," She states, with curiosity filling her eyes.

I filled Caitlyn in on every detail, making sure I didn't miss anything. I even told her about our kiss, she squealed at this part while I blushed.

"He really does like you, I mean I can look at him and see the way he looks at you. He just gets that look to him." Caitlyn states and I keep blushing. At this rate, I'm sure my cheeks look like a tomato.

* * *

The next day was full of packing, Shane helped me pack up my cabin. I've moved cabins so many times, it feels like a routine now. From moving into the cabin with my mom, and then into the cabin with Tess, back in with my mom and finally moved in Caitlyn's cabin. I blushed when Shane found a box of tampons I had packed. He didn't say a word, only place it in my suitcase and I could not be more grateful he didn't say anything.

After my bags were packed, I had helped Shane pack up his stuff.

As soon as we walked in, you could barely see the floor of the cabin, clothes scattered everywhere. "Did Hurricane Shane make landfall sometime over the summer?" I giggled. He turned back around to face me.

"Ha ha, very funny," He sarcastically replies. I can't help but to let my eyes wander over his figure. He was wearing his normal skinny jeans and a white t-shirt, his jet black hair out of its normal straight but a little wavy. I take a look at his arms, his muscular arms. "Mitchie," Shane says, I snap out of my daze and look at him in the eyes.

"What?" I ask.

He just laughs and shakes his head at me.

We both continue to clean up his cabin a bit more, and believe it or not, the cabin floor soon became visible once more. "At least Hurricane Shane wasn't catastrophic," I say and smile at him. He leans down and pecks my lips and pulls back to smile at me.

Over the next few hours, I spent all the time I could with not only Shane but Caitlyn as well. During dinner Peggy, Ella, and even Tess joined us at the table. I was enjoying the last few hours I had with Shane. Who knew the next time I would even get to see him. I knew Connect 3 had a tour starting up on the west coast or the east coast, I couldn't remember which, performing nation wide. I also take in the fact that school starts for me soon, back to the life of having one friend and feeling my worst nearly every day.

The next morning was one of the worst I've had in a while. Caitlyn, Peggy, Ella, Tess and I all had exchanged phone numbers and emails, promising each other we'll keep up with one another's hectic lives. I promised Shane we would call and text every day.

We stay locked in an embrace for quite a while, and even when we let each other go, he pulls me in for a kiss. This is our first kiss that lingers, I savor this moment, his lips how soft they are and how they perfectly fit against my lips. He pulls away first and wipes a stray tear from my eye and gets into his limo where the other two members of Connect 3 are already sitting.

My mom comes up to me and wraps an arm around me, "Don't worry, you'll see him soon enough," she comforts and all I do is nod my head in agreement. I watch as the Connect 3 limo completely disappears from sight.

 **Sooo what do y'all think about this? Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey all, here is the** **second chapter :)**

The drive from Camp Rock in Maine back to Pennsylvania was an almost eight hour drive. Nearly the whole drive I had my phone out with my ear phones in listening to the Connect 3 albums. I even fell asleep for a few hours trying to catch up on some much needed sleep.

As soon as I arrived home I had texted Caitlyn as well as Shane I had arrived as I had promised that morning. I had no idea how I was going to survive the school year without them by my side. The unpacked suitcase and purse I brought to Camp Rock I drug up to my room and laid them down on the floor as I jumped onto my bed. I look around my room, it was exactly how I left it: my music recording instruments all over, a few t-shirts dumped on the back of a chair, my Connect 3 poster on the back of my door, and of course my Shane Gray poster hanging. I can't help but to blush at the thought that I am dating a member of Connect 3. At this thought, I remembered I promised Shane I would call him as soon as soon as I was able to. The phone only rang three times before Shane picked it up.

"I was starting to get worried, it took you this long to get back home?" He teased.

"Well considering Camp Rock is about seven and a half hours from where I live and how my mom drives basically like a grandma, we made good timing considering the circumstances," We both laugh before it went silent on the line. "What about you, where did you end up at?"

"Well, I wanted to go to New York where my parents have a place, but we all had to go to LA to talk with the studio as well as our manager, so we didn't arrive until about an hour ago," He explains. I could hear voices in the background, which sounded like Nate and Jason. "Is that Mitchie?" I hear Jason ask with Shane shushing him, causing me to giggle some. "Make sure you tell her 'hi' for me," He continues on. I hear Shane make a promise to Jason before he turns his full attention back to me.

"Jason wants to make sure that I tell you he says 'hi'," I giggle into the phone once more.

"Hi Jason," I reply back.

"When does school start back up for you?" Shane asks, quickly changing the subject.

I lay down on my bed, on my side facing the Shane Gray poster I had in my room. "Ugh don't even remind me. But I start back on Tuesday, praying my junior year will fly by because I can't wait to be away from half the people in the school,"

Shane chuckled at this, "Trust me you'll miss it when you're done."

I sigh, "I know, everyone says that, but some of the people there just love making my life miserable,"

I suddenly hear loud noises in the background, followed by a voice that sounded like Nate's, "Hey Mitch, I have to go, I'll call you later, okay?" Shane quickly speaks up.

"Okay, later Pop Star." I hear Shane laugh before I hang up.

I can't help but to roll over on my back and look up my ceiling dreaming about Shane. Wondering where we'll both end up at in the future. His music career is taking off, he's an A-list Hollywood superstar, he wouldn't be in love with some random girl living in Pennsylvania who has one friend at school. I have no idea where my future is going right now, but I sure hope he's in it. We haven't been together even a week and I can't stop thinking about him or about the future we hopefully share together.

Around an hour later, my mom calls me down for dinner. I was surprised she was in the mood for cooking tonight, I would have assumed after cooking for three meals a day for over a hundred kids, she would want a little break.

My mom, dad and I sat around the kitchen table not making any noise. I was picking at the pasta Mom had made, I didn't realize I had barely taken any bites of my food before my mom spoke up. "Mitchie, aren't you going to eat anything?" I look up and know if I don't take at least a few bites I'll have my mom a nervous wreck, she'll be scared I'll be having a relapse, even now I'm not allowed to use the bathroom for thirty minutes after a meal, she prefers if I leave the door open and even to the point if I'm in there for an extended amount of time, she'll still knock on the door if it's shut.

"Oh yeah, I'm just not hungry," I reply.

She sighed and took another bite of her dinner. I took a few bites before I decided to clear my plate and head up to my room for the night, Sierra told me she would come over later to visit. I left my phone upstairs while eating and come back to a message from Shane, it was a picture message, curious to what it was I downloaded it only to have a picture of us from Final Jam, I had no idea who took it but I was in love with it. It was when our hands were interlocked and starring into each other's eyes right after our little duet ended.

 _I love this, where did you get it?_ I texted him.

Less than a minute later, his reply came, _My parents were at Final Jam, and they got this photo of us._

 _I love it._

I wanted to print multiple copies and have it everywhere: in my locker when I go back to school, in a framed picture in my room.

* * *

Sierra came over about an hour later. I was excited to see her since it had been basically the whole summer since I've last seen her. I didn't tell her about Shane and I, we hadn't really discussed about taking our relationship to the public level, and I knew she was trustworthy but I still wanted to discus everything with Shane first.

When she came up to my room we both screamed and hugged each other, it had been well over a month and a half since we've seen each other, the longest time we've probably ever spent apart together was a month and that was the summer going into fourth grade when she and her family went to Kentucky to visit her family for a month.

"So did you meet Shane Gray?" She asked, excitement in her eyes.

 _Oh if only she new_ I thought to myself.

"Yeah, I met him and all of Connect 3 actually. They performed a new song at Beach Jam,"

Sierra squealed in response, "Is he a jerk?" By 'he' I know she meant Shane.

"He taught my dance class, but he for sure got more approachable the more the summer went on,"

"I would have died if I were you!"

Sierra stayed for a little bit longer, she told me about her summer job and the vacations she and her family took. School was also brought up along with the normal ' _I can't believe we're juniors in high school'_ talk that's been coming up quite often now. After she left, I took my shower. It was my first real shower since coming home from Camp Rock, as much as I love Camp Rock, the showers there could use some improvements, there was only thirty minutes of hot water per cabin per day, so pretty much everyone in the cabin would be fighting for it, also wearing the flip flops from the Dollar Store during the shower time was also really nice.

I come out of my attached bathroom and call Shane immediately. I can't seem to get this boy out of my head and hope he feels the same way.

"Hey cutie," He says after picking up immediately. I blush at his voice and we knows it. "I was just wondering how you wanted to bring up our relationship to the media. To the label, its no question that I've changed and what caused my change. I can obviously say my time at Camp Rock changed me and brought me back down to Earth, but when 'Gotta Find You' appears on our album, that'll for sure raise questions,".

I debated the options, I wanted the whole world to know that Shane Gray was taken, but on the other hand, I wasn't ready to be blasted in the public eye, to be criticized one everything. On how I looked, how I dressed and even on my weight and looks.

"Can we keep it a secret for now and then we can announced it a little later?" I ask nervously, he didn't respond for a few seconds so I quickly add, "I just don't know if I'm ready to be thrown in the public eye yet."

I hear Shane laugh, "Of course, I understand, the media can be pretty brutal. One time, I had a stain on my shirt and there were so many headlines about 'Shane Gray having a stained shirt',"

Shane and I continue talking for two more hours. I couldn't imagine my life without him right now, we could be talking about nothing over the phone, but his breathing that I could hear over the phone was enough to keep me on the line.

* * *

The first day of school sadly came too soon. I was awoken by my alarm bright and early at six a.m., I roll out of bed and hit my alarm clock to turn it off. I rub my eyes before I decided to get up. I ended up straightening my hair and throwing on a lacy white dress with a blue jean jacket over it. My makeup was simple, like normal and I even put lip gloss on my lips.

My mom insisted on taking my photos before she dropped me off at school, as much as I protested, she eventually won that battle. As she dropped me off, I rushed inside meeting Sierra at our lockers to try to decorate them before first period would start. I had brought a mini Connect 3 poster to hang, along with my locker self, locker mirror and some magnets to hang more photos.

As my luck would have it, Sierra and I had no classes together only lunch together. I guess that was better than nothing. As the first bell rang, Sierra and I said our goodbyes before we parted ways to our first period. I kept my head down walking through the hallway, not wanting to make any eye contact. I heard the giggles coming from a group of girls, not wanting to know which group it was I kept walking, knowing it was probably Heather and her friends. Heather hated my guts, she was easily the most popular girls in the school, known for dating pretty much every popular guy. She was a textbook preppy brat: bleach blonde hair, cheer squad captain and rich parents. I made it to first period before the tardy bell rang, first period for me was humanities. I walked through the door looking for an empty seat, preferably an empty seat in the back of the classroom.

As I look around my heart froze as I made eye contact with Nicholas Dart. I had first period the whole year with my rapist. And my heart continued to sink at that thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys for the reviews! They do truly mean a lot :)**

As soon as our eyes made contact he evilly grinned at me, he knew who I was. He probably knew he ruined my life that one night too. His skin still a crisp golden color from summer, his normal brown hair was a shade lighter thanks to many of his days spent out by the lakes and the lavish vacations his family took to different beaches throughout the summer. Two years later and he was still the star of the football team as he had been his sophomore year. Only this time, he's on a full ride scholarship to the University of Florida. I knew if I had reported the rape right after it happened I knew he wouldn't be on a full ride scholarship at the moment, that his life would be ruined but only psychiatrist and therapist had known about the rape.

I take the only available seat thats located diagonally in front of him to the left, it sucked having to be so close to him, but at least I won't have to look at him. I knew he remembered who I was, I felt during the whole class him staring coldly at me. If I were able to have a few words spoken to him it would be that he had robbed me of my innocence that should have never been taken from me. The whole class, I felt as if the giggles coming from him were from him telling all of his friends what happened that one night.

The bell for first period rings releasing us from class, on my way to the next one, I check my phone to see I have an unopened text from Shane, _Hope you have an amazing first day of junior year, enjoy it because it will fly by._ I smile at my phone and it didn't take long for someone to notice.

"I wonder what person would keep in contact with her," I heard one whisper, I tried to just keep walking and ignore the comment, however, it took everything in me not to run in the bathroom and stay there for a few moments to escape everything.

I then remembered I did not text Shane back just quite yet, _Will do Pop Star, I can tell this year will already be a long year..._ I type referring to first period, _I miss you like crazy_.

It seemed like a full week had gone by before the school day had ended. The only highlight was I at least had lunch with Sierra, we had used that time to catch up more about our summer. I didn't have a bus to take home, since I lived 'too close' to the school, so I began the mile walk home in the August heat. I took this time to think more and more about Shane, I truly did miss him. He was the best thing that has ever happened to me in my sixteen years and I couldn't wait to see him next. I couldn't wait to feel his warm lips pressed up against mine and his arms around me holding me tightly.

I arrived home and saw both my parents cars were gone knowing they were off somewhere with their jobs. I walked into the kitchen turning on the tv in there and switching the channel to Hot Tunes.

 _Young Rock Star Shane Gray and the rest of Connect 3 were out spotted walking around L.A., it was said they had just left the recording studio out there. Did the summer Shane spent at Camp Rock was enough to save Connect 3? It seems like it, the Connect 3 lead singer had a smile plastered across his face and even stopped to sign multiple autographs and take photos with younger fans, something he hasn't been spotted doing in a while. When questioned about what helped him change his act, all he responded was "someone special brought me back here."_

I smiled dumbly to myself, the smallest things that boy does make me smile. I was pulling out my phone to call him before my phone rang with Shane on the other line.

"I just saw you on Hot Tunes," I exclaim to him. I hear him chuckle on the other line.

"Wow nice to talk to you too," Shane sarcastically replies.

I blush. "Sorry, its just so weird seeing you on Hot Tunes, like I forget that you're some world famous pop star sometimes."

"I try to forget that too sometimes," He laughs, "Our first show is in California in a couple of weeks and I was wondering if you wanted to come to it, its on a Friday night so you don't have to worry about missing school."

"I would love to," I reply instantly not also thinking to what I was agreeing to. "I just have no idea how my parents will respond to this," I kept on ranting to Shane before he interrupted me.

"Mitchie, if I was with you right now, I would kiss you to shut you up,"

Shane and I keep small talking for a few more minutes before he informs me he has to go. We tell each other bye and I can't help but to smile to myself. The Hot Tunes report about Shane was over but I couldn't help to smile to know he was mine. Although the rest of the world had no idea about the two of us. I knew how brutal the paparazzi has the potential to be, so in a way, I am thankful Shane wants to protect me from that, on the other hand, I wish everyone knew about us.

That night at dinner, I played around with my food, trying to muster up the courage to ask my parents if I could fly across America to see Shane in concert.

"I have a question," I speak aloud. My parents also look up from their plates to meet my eyes. "Shane invited me to his concert in California in a couple of weeks, he said its on a Friday night and I was just wondering if I could go?"

My parents looked at each other and sighed, "Mitchie thats a very big request," My dad is the first to speak, "You wanting to fly across the country for this boy, we know you love him now, but we don't want you moving so fast in this relationship. The type of lifestyle he has just doesn't match the lifestyle you're used to, and your mom and I are both worried where this relationship is headed."

"Shane is an incredible person," I mumble before excusing myself back upstairs to my room.

I decide to work on some homework to distract myself from the thoughts.

 _My parents said they would talk about me attending your concert...I have no idea what answer they'll say._ I type out to text Shane. As I glance at my clock on my nightstand it only reads 9:00, although early for me, I decide to head off to bed, knowing that 6:00 am will come too soon in the morning.

I toss and turn in my bed, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. I thought I was ready for bed, but the tossing and turning proves otherwise, that was until I heard my door open. I immediately shut my eyes, judging by the footsteps they sounded like my mom's. She took a few more steps before she was next to my bed, she leaned down to kiss my cheek and to brush a few stray hairs out of my face. "I know if we let you go to California, we can trust you." She whispered before leaving my room and shutting the door behind her.

* * *

The next day I walk into first period, already dreading it knowing who was in there. I try my best to ignore him, but knowing my back is toward his, makes me feel like vulnerable prey. I try to shake the feeling, but can't help but to feel disgusting around him.

"Alright class, there's going to be a small group project out of class project due next week. It'll just be short powerpoint and then a presentation in front of the class." As soon as Ms. Petterson mentioned a group project I crossed my fingers praying that Nicholas and I wouldn't be partners, but as my luck would have it we ended up as partners. We drew names to decide on partners. I was totally fine with doing all of the work for the project if it meant solely that Nicholas and I don't have to meet up outside of class.

The rest of the school day passes by rather uneventfully, I headed straight to work after to prepare for my after school shift, I was thankful that tonight was one of my shorter shifts I worked and not one of my eight hour ones. I was working in the drive thru area, we were a bit slower for the time of day. I was counting down the minutes until I clocked out. I heard the door open and some of my coworkers gasp, I figured maybe a dog walked in, as we were a pet friendly restaurant. I continued focusing on bagging until one of my shift managers, Sarah tapped me lightly on my back.

"Hey Mitchie, someone is here to see you,"

I smiled, it was pretty unusual for me to get a visitor, but I figured it was probably Sierra trying to make me feel better. After all, I had told her about how I was dreading today's shift and complained to her more about it. But to my surprise it was someone I would never have guessed in a thousand years.

"Shane!" I practically scream. I want to run and jump into his arms, but I contain myself and fast walk and throw myself into his arms. I noticed he had red roses in one of his hands. However, the roses did not stop him from wrapping his arms around me. He rubbed my back with the hand that didn't contain the roses. I could stay lie this forever, wrapped in his arms like this. The feeling I had right now did not compare to anything, I felt so safe, like nothing bad will ever happen to me. "How did you manage pulling this surprise?" I ask him still astonished.

"I have my ways," he replies and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Okay, fine. We have an interview with Good Morning America in two days and well I was able to convince my manager to let us come up a bit early and have some down time, its amazing what I can convince the label to let us do now as long as I promise not to go back to my old ways."

I look up at him and brush my lips gently against his, "This is the best surprise ever, thank you." And I meant it, it was an amazing surprise.

My manager had informed me if I wanted to leave a bit early I could, as we were slow it would help keep labor down if I was off the clock. Shane and I walk to his Range Rover, he opens the passenger side door for me before he slips into the driver side. Shane begins driving, I had no idea where he was taking me, or even if he had any idea on how to navigate around here.

"Where are we going?" I ask looking over at him. He smiles but shakes his head. His smile, it kills me every time. "Come on, you have to tell me."

We keep on driving for about an hour, making small talk, catching back up with each other lives. At one point he grabbed my hand and rested our intertwined hands on my thigh.

I began noticing we're getting more into downtown Philadelphia, where the night life takes place. All across there's shopping plazas, restaurants, bars and clubs. I was surprised Shane had decided to take us some place where paparazzi would easily be able to find us, especially after going through lengths to keep our relationship hidden.

"This is the restaurant I want to take you to," Shane says after driving by the restaurant to a nearby parking garage. I couldn't catch the name of it, however it looked like a cute restaurant. A porch up front as well as a balcony. With lights strung all around. "I hope you like Italian," He continues. After searching for a parking space a few floors above the ground level.

Shane and I both exit his car and he immediately grabs my hand once again. He puts on a hat as well as pushes up his sunglasses, although it wasn't dark quite yet, he still looked a little odd wearing the sunglasses. Shane tells the host it will be the two of us before he leads us to a rather secluded table in the restaurant.

"I hope you enjoy," He says and leaves, but not before winking at me. Shane had also noticed the host winking at me, causing us both to laugh. While looking over the menu, I couldn't help but notice Shane playing around with his purity ring that rested on his left ring finger. I couldn't help but to feel guilty that I am not pure, not like him. That I wasn't able to fulfill that promise to Shane of staying pure just for him. And it hurt knowing that I somehow have to tell Shane one day not only about my past struggles dealing with my eating disorder and self harm addiction but also of my rape. Shane must have noticed something was wrong because his arm reached across the table grabbing my hand.

"Are you okay, Mitchie?" He asks, I shake my head immediately, I felt a tear fall down my check and go to wipe it but Shane once again beats me to it. Before I had the change to respond, our waiter had came along to take our drink orders.

The whole dinner was an absolute fairy tale, Shane paid for the dinner, I practically begged him to let me pay for some of it at least but he insisted he took care of the whole thing. We found ourselves wandering the streets, browsing in and out of shops. We both spent a little extra time in this little bakery. We bought too many cookies and oreo balls to count. "Shit," I hear Shane mutter as we were walking towards the exit door of the shop.

"What?" I ask confused but also with worry in my voice.

"The paparazzi are here. We'll head back to the car, don't respond to any of their questions," I nod at Shane's requests. Shane wraps a tight arm around me before we exit the shop.

 _Shane who is this girl?_

 _Is this the girl that is responsible for changing you?_

 _What's your name young lady?_

 _She doesn't look like the normal type of girl you would date, Shane._

Ouch. That last comment is what stung me the most. Shane and I hurry back to the parking garage in search of his car. Luckily, none of the paparazzi had decided to follow us, unfortunately for us though, they had more than enough photos. So much for keeping our relationship a secret. I couldn't imagine doing that everyday though, having the paparazzi follow you everywhere, it's almost scary.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that Mitchie," Shane speaks up after a few moments of silence.

"Don't worry about it. It was bound to happen sooner or later, right?" I reply, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"The band managers are probably going to be calling after they see this story. They'll want me to confirm this relationship. Do you want us to confirm it or we can not respond to any comments about it or we can even try to deny it." Shane kept rambling on thinking of ways to get us out of this now mess.

"I guess we can confirm the relationship, there isn't a point in lying now that there is solid evidence." I shrugged my shoulders.

Shane drops me off at my house, but not before officially meeting my parents for a quick chat. Apparently, he had also contacted my parents asking their permission if he was able to take me out on a date. I was silently hoping that this would prove to my parents that we were both responsible to handle this California trip together.

My mom was all smiles, she wanted to know every detail of the date, I promised I would fill her in in the morning, as I was exaughsted. I nearly fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next morning as I was eating breakfast at the table, I see a breaking story from Hot Tunes as airing:

 _Does Shane Gray have someone special in his life?_ The reporter starts, _It seems so. A close look at these photos of him and an unknown girl last night show the two nice and close. Is this the girl that helped Shane clean up his act recently?_

I gasp at this story. It's official, the whole world practically knew about us. Although I knew this day would come, I was hoping it would happen later rather than sooner.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey all! Sorry for the longer wait on this chapter. Classes started back up and between taking 5 of those and working 30-35 hours a week it takes up quite some time haha. Also I do live in Florida, so the past few weeks have been pure hurricane preparations/recovery thanks to Irma. I live in Central Florida so when Irma looked like she was going up the east coast, that was good news for us, but when she kept shifting west that's when I got really nervous as we would expect a direct hit, but then she kept shifting west and it was good news for us, but last minute she didn't shift west as expected but instead went north, the eye hit probably about 20 minutes from** **where I live and a tornado hit down a mile or two from my house. Somehow, I never lost power, which I was incredibly thankful for as some people still do not have power at all. It was incredibly sad seeing all the damage to the Keys and other areas when at my house one of our fences came down and we just had a ton of debris and no damage. The community I live in, everyone pulled together to help out one another and that was beautiful to see. Praying that Maria doesn't hit us. Anyway, enough of my blabbering, here's the next chapter haha.**

I was still in shock over the new Hot Tunes broadcast. I knew it would not take long before the media would figure out who I am. I didn't realize I had my eyes completely glued to the tv until my mom snapped her fingers in front of my eyes.

"Mitchie?" My mom asks, slight concern in her voice, "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, there's just a story about Shane and I on Hot Tunes this morning." It felt weird saying that, it was almost as if I was this new celebrity.

My mom sat down next to me at the table, coffee at hand. "What have they been saying?" My mom asks. She asks out of curiosity, but I'm sure a part of her is also asking for my sake, making sure that if there were terrible things said, that she would be there and I wouldn't have to deal with it alone.

"Nothing really, just speculation if I'm the girl who has changed Shane's attitude." I reply taking a bite out of my toast. She seemed content with this answer, she picked up the newspaper and started to read it. I was wondering if her and Dad had discussed about me going out to California, I knew that this would be a good time to ask, since Dad was already at the store so it would just me and her. By the time I could muster up the courage, she already spoke up.

"We better get going if you don't want to be late to school," She said before ushering me into the car, I knew I could ask on the car ride, but suddenly my courage left.

I had texted Shane about the story on Hot Tunes, but I knew he and the band a few days off so he was probably still sleeping, catching up on much much needed rest. Plus, I'm sure he got back to his hotel pretty late last night after our little date.

Once I exited my mom's car, no one seemed to pay any more attention to me than normal, thank goodness no one watched Hot Tunes this morning, or if they did they didn't recognize the girl Shane was with was me, and for that, I was thankful. I wasn't sure how I would handle my new found fame that occurred literally over night.

I was starring at a few of the Connect 3 posters I had in my locker, before I noticed Sierra come up to me. I knew I needed to tell her about Shane and I before she found out from the media or overheard people talking at school, it would devastate her if it wasn't me who told me.

"I guess Shane Gray is taken now, might as well stop starring at the poster of him and the band. I saw the photos of him and the girl on Hot Tunes this morning," She says in a joking tone.

I try to laugh as genuinely as possible at this, but this also means she watched Hot Tunes this morning. "There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about," I say. I see her smile drop and concern plaster on her face, "No," I say and smile, "It's good. Really good. But once I tell you you have to promise not to freak out."

"Of course I promise. But I have no idea what you could possibly tell me that would cause me to freak out." She states. It's true, overall, her whole demeanor was rather calm. There was very little that caused her to freak out or to remain not calm. But I knew this news would be one of the exceptions.

"Okay, so remember how Shane Gray was a counselor at Camp Rock?" I ask Sierra.

"Don't tell me you two are best friends and you haven't told me this whole time," She joked.

"No, even better. I'm dating him."

The look on her face was priceless, she was stunned but wants able to form any words. I can tell on the inside she is freaking out, but on the outside she's stunned and doesn't know what to do or what to say.

"Say something," I say laughing.

"Sorry, I just can't believe you're dating the Shane Gray." She comments

"He's just 'Shane' to me. I don't know, he's a good guy. We wanted to keep our relationship a complete secret for as long as possible, but after the photos from last night were leaked, Shane said its only a matter of time before the media finds out who I am and my life has changed forever."

"I'm truly happy for you, I hope you know that," Sierra replies. She knew of my struggles of making friends and the bullying, I think she's glad I finally found a guy who likes me back for who I am and how I made new friends over the summer. No matter where my life takes me and wherever Sierra's life takes her, I know we'll stay close friends.

The rest of the school day was just plain old school. Dreading my next class and keeping my head down avoiding eye contact while walking the hallways. I wish I a class with Sierra, she would make everything a bit more bearable. Although it is still early in the school year, I overheard some of the senior girls talking about homecoming this year. Which got me thinking. Would Shane and I attend homecoming together? Or would I just attend with Sierra a few of her other friends like normal? I really hoped Shane would be able to make it here if we were able to, I've always wanted to attend a dance with a guy.

* * *

It was nearly two months later, I somehow managed to convince my parents to let my fly all the way across the United States to see Shane and the rest of Connect 3 perform. Shane had already informed me one interview we'll do together, officially confirming our relationship. Somehow the media has yet been able to identify me, so I know as soon as Shane and I have that interview my life will officially change. The flight from Pennsylvania to California takes a good five and a half hours, which left plenty of time to start some homework. Moving around the seat made me realize I wish I had let Shane buy me the first class ticket he had wanted to buy me, but I had insisted that I can buy my own ticket, which of course I chose economy seating, working minimum wage does not allow for many luxuries.

Before I knew it, the pilot had announced we were landing in L.A. just like it was planned. I couldn't help but wonder if the paparazzi had followed Shane to the airport, it was rare these days he was able to go anywhere without pictures surfacing on the internet of him of his daily activities.

Once exited the plane I head over to luggage pick up and turn my phone off airplane mode and waited for a text from Shane letting me know where he was. Waiting for my suitcase seemed like it took forever. I looked around at all the other people in the airport also waiting for their luggage, some were families with young kids, and my mind couldn't help but to wander to the future. Would Shane and I still be together? Would we end up married and have kids together? I smiled at the thought of Shane becoming a father, I knew he would be an amazing one. Others impatiently looked at their watches, probably on a time limit as they needed to hurry on about their day.

I was lost in thought until I heard a familiar voice come up from behind me. "What are you thinking about?" I hear the voice say and pretty soon his arms are hugging me from behind. I smile knowing immediately who it was, I turn around in Shane's arms and bring him into a tight embrace never wanting to let go of him.

"I've missed you so much," I confess with my eyes closed and my head still buried into his chest. I pull away and look into his eyes, I didn't realize a single tear had escaped from my eye until one of his fingers brushed it away. I stood on the tips of my toes to reach his lips with mine. It was just a quick peck before I noticed all the flashes coming from a far.

"Come on, lets go before they get even crazier," Shane whispered into my ear and I nodded my head in agreement. Shane took my suitcase while I carried my purse, he kept a tight arm around me the closer and closer we got to the paparazzi the tighter I felt his grip get. "Just ignore everything they say or ask," Shane instructs and I nod my head in agreement. It's my second time dealing with the paparazzi and it feels just as overwhelming as the first time. I'm thankful to have Shane by my side as the paparazzi does not seem to phase him at all.

 _Shane over here!_

 _What's your name miss?_

 _How old are you?_

 _Shane, so this is the girl that transformed you over summer?_

 _She doesn't seem to be a celebrity._

With each question, I felt Shane start walking faster and I had to pace to keep up with him. We walked through the parking garage of the airport until we got to his car, he opened up the passenger door for me and then he got into the driver's side.

"Well that was pretty crazy," Shane says breaking a silence.

I chuckle at that, "How are you so calm around all those paparazzi? Like I don't think I could have made it through without you right there," Shane shrugs.

"I guess because its been part of my life for so long I'm used to it. So I meant to tell you earlier, but we have an interview to publicly announce our relationship, I figured it would probably be better that we do it and release your name ourselves rather than the media finding it out. We have time to grab lunch real quick before we head to the studio."

I nodded in agreement, Shane had one handing on the steering wheel and with his other hand he takes his hand and gently takes mine resting both of our hands on my upper thigh. I can't help but to smile at this small gesture. What in the world have I done to deserve Shane Gray?

Shane took us to a small restaurant located on the beach. It seemed to be a cute little mom and pop restaurant where all the locals go and where they have the daily regulars ordering the same every day. I told the waiter I was paying the bill and with much protest from Shane, I paid. He kept saying because I was visiting I shouldn't have to pay for our lunch, but I kept insisting.

Back in the car, Shane and I were heading to the studio were our interview would be filmed, we were releasing all of this through _People,_ the interviewer would be a younger lady named Sarah. Shane explained how when we would first arrive at the studio we would be rushed into the makeup and hair department before we would be on set. It amazed me at how much Shane knew about this whole process of what goes into an interview.

Shane and I entered the building hand in hand, I could help but to turn my head in every which way, although we were still only in the lobby, the detail of the studio amazed me. There were literally tv's everywhere, magazines everywhere, this new atmosphere amazed me. Shane nodded at the receptionist before another man greeted us and took us down a hallway leading to the hair and makeup department. An elder lady quickly took me from Shane's side and brought me into the makeup room, I looked over my shoulder in hopes that Shane was following me into the same room, he gave me a reassuring smile before he headed his own way into another room.

I sat down in front of a full body mirror, nearly every hair product and hair tools one could imagine sat in front of me. I didn't have any say in my hair style, I figured she would keep it straight, since my hair was already straightened and she would just have to run a few touch ups on it. It took me by surprise when she started to add some curls. It took about twenty minutes for the hair stylist to perfectly curl my hair, she also was the one who did my makeup, she kept it light and minimal looking making me look like my age rather than make me look older. We didn't say anything to each other the whole time and the longer I sat there with her doing my makeup, the more awkward I felt.

I was dressed in a pink seersucker off the shoulder top with white jeans and pearls. I couldn't help but when I saw myself in the mirror, I actually looked pretty.

She motioned for me to get up and to follow her, I followed her onto set where Shane and the interviewer, Sarah, greeted me. Sarah stood up to shake my hand before I sat down. Shane looked normal, he was still in the same clothes that he arrived in, his hair still the same, the only difference was the pimple that was once on his forehead was now covered by makeup.

"Is there anything that you guys want to keep off limits during this interview?" She asked looking at both Shane and I. Shane looked over at me and I shook my head. I had nothing to hide and neither did he.

Shane and I were sitting on a rather small love seat, our shoulders were practically touching from sitting so close together, his hand cradled mine and rested on his lap. I looked down at our hands and smiled to myself.

"With all the recent speculations about Shane Gray's new girlfriend, they both have decided to come out publicly to announce their relationship. So why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little about you," Sarah said looking over at me.

Shane squeezed my hand reassuring me. "Okay, well, my name is Mitchie Torres, I'm 16 and I'm a junior in high school. I love singing and writing my own songs. That's really all there is to me," I smiled and laughed at Sarah not knowing what else to say. I didn't exactly have the most interesting life to begin with.

"So Shane," Sarah says, now shifting her gaze over at him. "How did you and Mitchie exactly meet?"

"Well as pretty much everyone knows, I was sent to Camp Rock to have an attitude adjustment," I was hoping that Shane would leave out the part of me lying to everyone, last thing I wanted was the whole world to think I'm a liar. "I had heard a girl singing and it kind of reminded me of my old music, the type of music that made me fall in love with making music. I had ran into Mitchie a few times during camp and she was different than all the other girls, she didn't freak out that she was talking to Shane Gray, I felt myself around her. For whatever reason, I didn't find out Mitchie was the girl until after Final Jam when I interrupted her singing and we just started singing as a duet and well here we are now." Shane looked over at me and I smiled at him, I couldn't thank him enough for not telling the full story of how we met and we got together.

Sarah kept asking a few more questions, about Shane and I as well as about our relationship.

"Just one more question," Sarah states smiling widely, "We all know that Connect 3 does wear the purity rings, is that something that you both want to honor, waiting to marriage?"

I freeze, I wasn't expecting that question, that personal of a question. We could have said we didn't want anything brought up about sex, but shouldn't that be given? I still haven't told Shane what happened that one night and about Nicholas.

"I do plan on saving myself for marriage, we both want to save that aspect part of our relationship for marriage," Shane answers confidently.

Sarah looks over at me waiting for me to answer, I wasn't able to answer, I tried to form words but my mouth wasn't speaking.

"I'm sorry," Is all I am able to say before rushing out of the studio room. The room let me out into a hallway full of doors leading to who knows where. I wasn't sure if Shane followed me or not, he was probably too disappointed in me to. The thought occurred to me that what if it was being aired live? Shane nor Sarah ever brought up if it was going to be prerecorded then aired or if was airing live. I pray that it is prerecorded and the studio can just edit the last part out.

I manage to make my way to the first floor in the studio and out into the gardens directly behind it. I just stood by myself staring out into the garden, looking at the different flowers and the wildlife that resided there. My tears haven't stopped flowing, I don't think I could stop them if I tried. I am only able to imagine how pissed Shane is at me, I mean I would be pretty mad at me too. But how am I able to tell someone that I was raped when I hardly accept it myself? I didn't want to tell him about my rape for a long time and I also didn't want to bring up mental struggles for a long time as well. I trust Shane with all my heart but I never wanted to look weak in front of him, and breaking down in front of him would make me look weak.

I hear footsteps a distance from behind, "What the hell was that Mitchie?" It was Shane. "When were you going to tell me that you weren't a virgin? How many guys have you been with? Am I just another guy to hook up with?" I shook my head, "You knew staying pure until marriage was a huge thing for me, you could have at least acted like you were a virgin. You're so lucky that that interview wasn't airing live. Hopefully the studio edits that question out but what if they don't?" I couldn't bring myself to look at Shane. I really had disappointed him, he probably hates my guts right now and I can't even blame him.

"Shane," I start and turn around, I see tears pricking in the corner of his eyes as well.

"You lied to me, again." _Again_. That word hit me like a thousand bricks. I didn't technically lie though, I just never told him. He turned around to leave. "What else have you lied about that I don't know about?" He went to walk away, he was probably disgusted with me, I mean I was disgusted at myself.

"Shane please," I begged him.

He turned around "What?" He said bluntly.

"I never told you because I had no idea how to," I start, still crying.

"So you weren't planning to tell me?" He questioned. "That you thought you could hide this the whole time. Would you have told me if I asked you personally?"

I shook my head, "I was 14, I was a freshman and stupid. I was at this senior party and I felt so out of place there. I was there with Sierra and Sierra's older sister and boyfriend. We ended up finding out the only reason why Sierra's sister wanted us there was so we could drive them home. I went upstairs to hide out in a bedroom for a few hours and so that I could be alone. That's when someone else walked in and I thought it was their bedroom so I went to leave, only he wouldn't let me. I knew who it was when I saw his face, it was a sophomore and he was the football captain and he ra- he ra-," It felt as if I couldn't say the word, that I wasn't physically able to say the word, "he raped me," I choked. That's when I feel Shane pull me in the tightest embrace, "I see him everyday still, I sit almost directly next to him in my first period and he remembers who I am. I can't say anything because I'll ruin his scholarship for football he has,"

"I'm so sorry Mitchie," Shane whispers, "I'm sorry I wasn't more understanding, I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to tell me. You are the most incredible girl I've ever known. I hope you know you can tell me absolutely anything and you can tell me everything about that night or you can just leave it here. I'm sorry that I had to find out this way and you weren't able to tell me when you were ready. I can't even begin to imagine how much this probably weighs you down. Does anyone else know? Do your parents know?"

He kept asking questions and I didn't answer them, I had no idea where to even start. If I told him all the details on the rape and how it affected me later on, I would end up telling him everything else.

"I'm sorry Shane," I whisper through my tears, he pulls me in his embrace tighter. I loved this feeling of him hugging me so tightly, as if nothing in the world can harm me in this moment.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey...So long time no post?**

Shane took my hand and lead me around the building to where his car was still parked. He opened the passenger door for me and gently placed a protective hand on the small of my back before walking around to the driver's side. Surprisingly there weren't any paparazzi or any fans outside waiting for us. Although out of the norm, I was very thankful for the little privacy Shane and I had especially after me coming clean about one of the biggest secrets I have. I just admitted it to someone else when I can barely admit these secrets to myself on some days.

The drive from the studio to Shane's place according to Shane is only 30 minutes or so, but with the heavy traffic in L.A. and the little scenary, the drive felt much longer. Shane didn't really talk and neither did I, instead of having a nice and calming silence, the silence was more awkward. I knew Shane wanted to ask me more and more questions, especially questions regarding my rape. I mean who wouldn't, but whatever was keeping Shane silent on asking these questions, I was grateful for and grateful he respected my privacy.

The '30 minute' drive soon turned into an hour before Shane took an exit from the highway. "So thirty minutes?" I jokingly mock, looking over at Shane.

"Okay listen, not my fault traffic around here can be so brutal," Shane remarks back, laughing.

After a few more cuts and turns and several gates, Shane starts a drive up a long brick drive way, with trees lining the drive way on both sides. Several trees surrounding the drive way along with a variety of different colored flowers. I could partly see a house on top of a hill, Shane drives up a bit further before opening the garage to drive into. My mouth drops when I see the true vastness of his house.

"Shane, you live here?" I could hardly contain the excitement in my voice.

"Well, technically, Jason and Nate also live here with me. But yeah, I do live here occasionally,"

Shane hoped out of the car and quickly went to open the door with me, offering me a hand out of his car. I thanked him for being a gentleman, because, he truly was one no matter what the media said.

Shane opened the door from the garage leading to the inside.

"Come on Mitch, I'll give you a personal tour," Shane said with a wink, and took my suitcase and headed upstairs. I quickly followed, feeling the butterflies start to form in my stomach. I could feel myself start to blush, something I haven't done much of lately. The house was beautiful to say the least. Dark hardwood floors throughout the house, tan travertine tile in bathrooms and in some bedrooms were carpet. The interior design was breathtaking, almost something that would have been seen in a magazine. The game room was styled just the way a group of men living together would have it: a pool table, a rather large tv, a large leather couch as well as a small kitchen.

The house was beautiful. Truly one you would see out of a designer magazine. The exterior had a tan stone structure while inside dark hardwood floors covered most of the house with occasional travertine floors. No space in the house was wasted, there were 10 total bedrooms in the house along with two private studies, a gym, a recording studio, a game room, an indoor and outdoor pool along with a guest house right outside. It seemed crazy to me how such young guys were able to afford this multimillion dollar mansion. Never in a million years would I have thought I would step foot in a house like this never the less date the guy who owns it.

And lastly, the last room he had to show me was his bedroom. I thought it was going to be a messy room where the floor could not be seen, but instead, I was actually wrong. The dark hardwood was throughout his bedroom. It was a navy blue color, a gray comforter. He had different guitars along his wall with beanbags a few feet away from an at least 50 inch television. His room had a connecting bathroom, which also to my surprise, was kept rather neat and had a matching paint color of his bedroom. He had a walk in closet right off the bathroom. A majority of his clothes, no surprise, were the v-neck t-shirts but in a few other sections were clothes for all different occasions. I still had trouble taking all of this in, that I was standing in Shane Gray's room. I knew that I would start spending more and more time here as our relationship progressed.

"Shane, this house is amazing," I tell him, and it was true. I would have thought this house belonged to someone else and not Connect 3.

"It's alright," Shane says half jokingly turning towards me to play with a loose strain of my hair, causing me to blush a bit. I could tell Shane noticed my blushing but chose not to say anything about it.

* * *

The hours leading up to their concert were mainly spent laying in his bed and watching tv.

When Shane mentioned it was time to leave for the stadium, my heart started to flutter, we haven't really had any public appearances together since we publicly confirmed our relationship and I couldn't even begin to say how nervous I felt.

Luckily the drive to the stadium wasn't long at all and with the back entrance made especially for the performers, we were able to sneak in almost unnoticed. As soon as Shane entered backstage, a few of the hair and makeup team rushed to his side to begin the process before sound check. Jason and Nate were both in their own separate rooms all connected to one main room, which was where I was sitting. I felt a little odd being in Connect 3's dressing room, especially because I still had to get ready myself. I bought a special dress for this concert, it was a white dress, scalloped at the neck as well as at the bottom. I knew I was going to slightly curl my hair and put on makeup as soon as Shane was done getting ready.

I sat there awkwardly for a few more minutes before a kind middle aged lady peaked her head outside of Shane's room and ushered me back there.

"Don't worry Love, we'll take care of your hair and makeup," The lady states. I let out a sigh of relief because I knew that some professional would easily make me look better. I was already self conscious of how I looked, Shane could literally have any girl in the world but he chose one who looked like me.

"I told you she was beautiful," Shane stated as he was getting his finishing touches on his hair, I couldn't help but to blush and look down at the ground. Shane kissed my cheek as he left the room to meet up with all the other guys for sound check.

The makeup artist had me sit in the same chair as Shane had been previously sitting in, we didn't talk much, aside from discussing how I wanted my hair and makeup but I allowed her to judge how I should look.

I refused to look in the mirror the entire time, I didn't want my mind to play games with me on how I looked. In total, my preparation took about an hour. I didn't look beautiful, but I was at least satisfied. I hopped out of the chair and thanked my stylist before exiting the room into the main part of their dressing room. The boys were hanging out on the couch, they had just finished sound check and did not have much longer before going on the stage.

Shane didn't realize I was out of hair and makeup but as soon as he did, his gaze looked me over top to bottom and then bottom to top. "Wow," was all he managed to spit out. And of course, I couldn't help but to blush. He walks up to me before he quickly brushes his lips against mine.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Nate asks motioning to the insane amount of food laid out on the table in the corner of the room.

I listen to my stomach rumble a bit, contemplating with myself if I should or shouldn't eat. I haven't really eaten anything at all today. "No thank you, I'm good," I say and add a smile to it. I could tell Shane was about to say something before the stage manager opened the door for the boys to head to the stage.

Shane reached for my hand and held it in a light grasp, "We have a special place for you to watch the show tonight," he says with a wink. And he was right, I was sitting to the right side of the stage, with a perfect view of Connect 3. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be watching Connect 3 on stage.

The crowd was going wild even before Connect 3 was on, the normal concert intro began, causing the crowd to start screaming to an even higher pitch. Jason, Nate, and Shane all rise together. The trio opened with their new song that they performed at Camp Rock, Play My Music and kept playing through. It was a good hour and a half before the three exited the stage in preparation for their encore. Shane ran up to me first, even though he was all sweaty, he still looked just as handsome as he did before the concert. "So don't freak out," Shane started, "But I want you to perform 'This is Me' for the encore," My face must have gone ghost white judging from his reaction, "I promise that the crowd will love you,"

"I'll do it," I reply nervously, I could feel my hands starting to become all sweaty but I knew I couldn't let Shane down, and plus this had been my dream to perform in concert for as long as I could remember.

Shane kissed me lightly before jogging back out onto stage. "Okay guys, we actually have a special guest to sing our final song tonight. I met her at Camp Rock, and her voice is truly one of a kind. Please welcome, my girlfriend, Mitchie Torres!" The audience went wild for my name, Shane had the crowd wrapped around his finger so much he probably could say that Connect 3 was splitting up and still have the same reaction.

I was handed a microphone and allowed my legs to carry myself onto the center of the stage. The felt like jello, I was nearly almost sure that I was about to fall. The arena definitely looked much bigger looking at them from the stage.

"Hey guys, so this is a song I wrote a while ago, but definitely one of my favorites I've written," _crap,_ I thought to myself, now everyone here knows I write songs. As if almost on que, the music started.

The rush through my body carried me, I even risked a few notes choosing to go a high note rather than playing it safe. Shane also joined in the song the same way he did at Camp Rock, the crowd even started to sing along a little. As the song ended, our hands intertwined and we looked into each other's eyes so deeply. His eyes telling all, the part of the stage we were on lowered.

"You were incredible Mitchie," Shane says as he pulls me into a hug, I relaxed myself in his embrace, allowing me to take in the moment. I Michelle Devonne Torres, just performed with Connect 3 and I could not be happier.

Jason and Nate rush to my side as well, they both give me high fives and pulled me into a quick embrace.

"How was it?" Nate asked, clearly just as excited for me as I was for myself.

"Literally everything I could imagine and more," I reply truthfully, widening my smile. I truly haven't stopped smiling since Shane and I were lowered from stage.

We were brought back to the dressing room where I changed into running shorts and just a plain t-shirt while Shane, Nate, and Jason all changed real quick too. We didn't spend long in the dressing room before we were leaving to go back to their house. I was prepared for the paparazzi to be near the exit, but luckily, the arena had an underground exit so the performers of the night were able to get out hassle free.

The drive back to the boy's mini mansion was short once again, Nate and Jason immediately dispersed to their area while I followed Shane to his room. I took a shower first while Shane showered second. I was already in his bed when he came out of the bathroom shirtless. I saw the outlines of his abs and how defined they are, the muscles all over his body are perfectly defined. Shane must have caught me starring at him because he made a comment, "Like what you see?" He asks in a sarcastic tone.

"Not really, I was thinking my other boyfriend has a better figure than you do," I snarked back causing him to laugh.

Shane walked over closer to the bed and kissed me, "I'll be sleeping on the couch, treat this place as you would your own home," How sweet was Shane Gray?

"No, you can sleep here with me," I say in a quiet tone, I see a slight smile tug at his lips before not hesitating to get in bed with me. We both adjust in bed before we find a comfortable spot. He wraps one arm around me and I lay my head on his chest, listening to his heart beat steadily, lulling me to sleep. I swear, if I died right now, I would die the happiest woman.

 **Super short, but wanted to post something.**


End file.
